Caps make Rangers pay for penalties in 3-1 Game 1 loss

WASHINGTON – To the Rangers, it was obvious where and when they went wrong Thursday night.

Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh looks for the puck after colliding with Caps’ Alex Ovechkin near the boards.

Burned by a lack of discipline and an inability to score on a two-man advantage, the Blueshirts gave up three goals in a span of 8:08 in the second period on their way to a 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at Verizon Center.

Game 2 is Saturday afternoon in Washington.

Leading 1-0 on Carl Hagelin’s wraparound goal with 3:16 left in the opening period, the Rangers were short-handed three times in the opening seven minutes of the second period. That finally caught up to them when Alex Ovechkin scored on the power play at 6:59 to pull the Capitals even.

With Arron Asham in the penalty box for a check to the head of Capitals defenseman Steve Olesky, Mike Green’s straight-on point shot went wide left, but caromed off the end boards out in front. Ovechkin moved in on the left side to chip the puck over goaltender Henrik Lundqvist’s right pad.

That came on the Capitals’ fourth power play and 19th shot on goal of the game.

“Against a power play like that, if you’re killing that much, eventually they’re going to capitalize,” Rangers captain Ryan Callahan said.

“They’ve got enough talent out there to do that. We’ve just got to stay out of the box.”

The Rangers had a great chance to retake the lead when penalties to Washington’s Martin Erat (boarding Mats Zuccarello) at 9:40 and Eric Fehr (interference with Derek Stepan) at 10:44 gave them a 5-on-3 advantage for 56 seconds.

The Blueshirts managed only one shot on goal during the two-man advantage, however, and could not convert on the remaining 5-on-5 after Erat exited the penalty box either.

“You’re trying to get something there. We didn’t,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said. “I thought on the 5-on-4 we had some chances, but you’d like to get something there.”

Instead, they gave up something shortly thereafter. Olesky’s long pass at the Rangers’ blue line sent Marcus Johansson in behind defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi on a breakaway.

Johansson’s shot went in off the bottom of Lundqvist’s left arm with 5:39 left in the second period and the Capitals had their first lead of the night.

“We need to do a better job coming up the middle, so he doesn’t have that option,” McDonagh said of Olesky. “It’s a pretty a high-level pass, but it’s something we should prevent, getting in the middle of the ice, just me and Danny.”

Jason Chimera made it 3-1 with only 46 seconds left in the second period, spinning around along the left wing boards and firing a shot that found an opening under Lundqvist’s right pad.

“For some reason, it went under the pad,” Lundqvist said.

“I have to be more solid on the ice there. I probably expected a pass and maybe I was a little slow to react, but it doesn’t matter. I have to stop that.”

The Rangers had some chances to come back in the third period but were repeatedly thwarted by Caps goaltender Braden Holtby, who made 12 of his 35 saves over the final 20 minutes.

Holtby also got help from the crossbar on a Hagelin shot from the left circle on a 2-on-1 rush 9:27 into the third period and then somehow kept a left circle shot by defenseman John Moore out of the net with 4:03 left.

Moore raised his hands, thinking the puck had snuck by Holtby on the short side, but a video review in the NHL Situation Room in Toronto determined the puck never completely crossed the line, upholding the no-goal call of the on-ice officials.

Holtby said he had the puck in the palm of his blocker hand the whole time. But, the Rangers knew that was not when they lost the game.

“There’s that five, 10-minute span in the second period where they grabbed onto it and ended up getting a couple of goals off of it,” Callahan said. “That’s what the playoffs are about – momentum swings.”

WASHINGTON – To the Rangers, it was obvious where and when they went wrong Thursday night.

Burned by a lack of discipline and an inability to score on a two-man advantage, the Blueshirts gave up three goals in a span of 8:08 in the second period on their way to a 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at Verizon Center.

Game 2 is Saturday afternoon in Washington.

Leading 1-0 on Carl Hagelin’s wraparound goal with 3:16 left in the opening period, the Rangers were short-handed three times in the opening seven minutes of the second period. That finally caught up to them when Alex Ovechkin scored on the power play at 6:59 to pull the Capitals even.

With Arron Asham in the penalty box for a check to the head of Capitals defenseman Steve Olesky, Mike Green’s straight-on point shot went wide left, but caromed off the end boards out in front. Ovechkin moved in on the left side to chip the puck over goaltender Henrik Lundqvist’s right pad.

That came on the Capitals’ fourth power play and 19th shot on goal of the game.

“Against a power play like that, if you’re killing that much, eventually they’re going to capitalize,” Rangers captain Ryan Callahan said.

“They’ve got enough talent out there to do that. We’ve just got to stay out of the box.”

The Rangers had a great chance to retake the lead when penalties to Washington’s Martin Erat (boarding Mats Zuccarello) at 9:40 and Eric Fehr (interference with Derek Stepan) at 10:44 gave them a 5-on-3 advantage for 56 seconds.

The Blueshirts managed only one shot on goal during the two-man advantage, however, and could not convert on the remaining 5-on-5 after Erat exited the penalty box either.

“You’re trying to get something there. We didn’t,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said. “I thought on the 5-on-4 we had some chances, but you’d like to get something there.”

Instead, they gave up something shortly thereafter. Olesky’s long pass at the Rangers’ blue line sent Marcus Johansson in behind defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi on a breakaway.

Johansson’s shot went in off the bottom of Lundqvist’s left arm with 5:39 left in the second period and the Capitals had their first lead of the night.

“We need to do a better job coming up the middle, so he doesn’t have that option,” McDonagh said of Olesky. “It’s a pretty a high-level pass, but it’s something we should prevent, getting in the middle of the ice, just me and Danny.”

Jason Chimera made it 3-1 with only 46 seconds left in the second period, spinning around along the left wing boards and firing a shot that found an opening under Lundqvist’s right pad.

“For some reason, it went under the pad,” Lundqvist said.

“I have to be more solid on the ice there. I probably expected a pass and maybe I was a little slow to react, but it doesn’t matter. I have to stop that.”

The Rangers had some chances to come back in the third period but were repeatedly thwarted by Caps goaltender Braden Holtby, who made 12 of his 35 saves over the final 20 minutes.

Holtby also got help from the crossbar on a Hagelin shot from the left circle on a 2-on-1 rush 9:27 into the third period and then somehow kept a left circle shot by defenseman John Moore out of the net with 4:03 left.

Moore raised his hands, thinking the puck had snuck by Holtby on the short side, but a video review in the NHL Situation Room in Toronto determined the puck never completely crossed the line, upholding the no-goal call of the on-ice officials.

Holtby said he had the puck in the palm of his blocker hand the whole time. But, the Rangers knew that was not when they lost the game.